SAN FRANCISCO – Tesla Motors announced Tuesday, January 14, that the company sold almost 6,900 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2013, bringing the total number of Model S's delivered worldwide during 2013 to 22,300. The news pushed the company's shares up by 16%.
In Tesla's quarterly report, the company's fourth quarter revenue exceeded guidance by almost 20%. The company disclosed the financial results a day after it announced a recall on the company's car chargers which could overheat, and in some cases, start a fire.
In a letter sent Sunday to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla noted a small number of fires related to the overheating issue. One fire that started in a garage in Irvine, Calif., in November was attributed to an overheating Tesla charger, according to reports.
"While the number of incidents remains small, and Tesla's review to date points to the building receptacle or wiring as the primary cause of failed NEMA 14-50 adapters," Tesla said in the letter, "the Company has determined that a voluntary recall is appropriate as a precautionary measure."
The Calif.-based company stressed that almost all of the Model S cars covered by a recall announcement Monday already received in December an "over-the-air" wireless software update to prevent chargers from overheating.
A notice posted Monday by the NHTSA said 29,222 cars in the United States are affected by the problem.
While the company believes the over-the-air software update will fully address the problem, Tesla said in a statement Friday, "However, to provide additional protection for Model S customers, we have designed a new wall adapter with a thermal fuse."
The company detailed the overheating issues as follows in a statement Friday:
A variety of factors such as corrosion, physical damage to receptacles, or inappropriate wiring or installation of electrical outlets can cause higher than normal electrical resistance when using the Universal Mobile Connector ("UMC") NEMA 14-50 adapters to charge Tesla Model S vehicles. When charging, higher than normal electrical resistance connections to external energy sources may cause excessive heating of the adapter.
In December 2013, Tesla released an over-the-air software update to address this issue, enabling the Model S onboard charging system to automatically reduce the charging current by 25 percent if it detects unexpected fluctuations in the input power to the vehicle. This fully addresses the issue by substantially reducing the heat generated in any high resistance connections outside the vehicle.
Touting the company's over-the-air software upgrade capability, Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, tweeted Tuesday afternoon: "No Tesla vehicles are being physically recalled by Tesla." Later he added in his tweet, "The word 'recall' needs to be recalled."